Two Guyton men killed in two-vehicle crash in Effingham

Posted: Thursday, October 17, 2002

Two Guyton men were killed early Wednesday when a delivery truck slammed head-on into their pickup truck in central Effingham County.

Killed in the crash on Midland Road were Darnell Farmer, 43, of Guyton, and Terrance Case, 49, who had recently moved to Effingham from Savannah, according to Georgia State Patrol Sgt. Neal Jump of Post 42 near Rincon.

The driver of the delivery truck, 18-year-old Reed Turner of Rincon, sustained minor injuries. Emergency medical service technicians treated Turner at the scene.

The accident occurred about 5:20 a.m. on Midland Road, a 10-mile stretch that runs from Ga. 17 in Pinora just south of Guyton to Ga. 30 in south Effingham.

The road is frequently used by commuters from north and west-central Effingham County en route to their jobs in Chatham County via Ga. 21.

Turner was westbound on Midland in a Frito Lay delivery truck when the vehicle crossed the center line and hit head-on an eastbound Toyota Tacoma pickup driven by Farmer. Case was Farmer's passenger. The larger truck mangled the smaller pickup. Rescue workers used metal cutters to remove the men from the Toyota.

Farmer was dead at the scene and Case died a short time later while en route to Effingham County Hospital.

"It is not uncommon to have minor injuries in one vehicle and severe injuries in the other when you have a larger truck hitting a smaller truck," Sgt. Jump said.

The accident occurred on Midland near Low Ground Road, which is about midway between Ga. 17 and Blue Jay Road. Several motorists reported the accident within minutes and GSP troopers and Effingham sheriff's deputies immediately started rerouting traffic, avoiding delays, said Sgt. Jump.

The exact speeds of the trucks were undetermined pending the outcome of an investigation by Trooper Scott Fisher and a state patrol accident reconstruction team. Charges in the case are also pending.

Five other traffic fatalities have occurred this year in Effingham, including an earlier one on Midland, two on McCall Road, one on Ga. 21 and one last month in the north Effingham community of Egypt.